Driving shoe box oiling mechanism



July 26, 1932. H. G. BECKER DRIVING SHOE BOX OILING MECHANISM Filed Oct.26. 1929 3/ 5 x9 M 29 a v T41-) M w/ w m w Patented July 26, 1932 PATENTOFFICE HARRY G. BECKER, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK DRIVING SHOE BOX OILINGMECHANISM 5 It is a general object of the present invention to provide anovel and improved automatic lubricator for locomotive driving boxes.

One of the important features of the in- 1'0 vention resides in theprovision of lubricant receptacles encompassed within the outline of thedriving box which automatically supply a regulated quantity of lubricantto the faces of the driving box which engage the wedge,

the shoe and the hub thrust face.

Another important feature of the invention resides in the arrangement ofconduits within the driving box and lubricant grooves on the rubbingfaces arranged to distribute a regulated quantity of lubricant fromsuitable reservoirs carried by the box in order that there may be nounnecessary wear of the various rubbing faces of the driving box.

Other and further objects and features of 5 novelty of the inventionwill be apparent to those skilled in this particular art upon aconsideration of the accompanying drawing and following specification.Although the invention is particularly disclosed in con- 30 nection withone well known type of driving box, it is to be understood that withslight modifications which fall within the scope of the appended claims,it can be adapted to any of the various driving boxes of present 35locomotive practice.

In said drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the centertransversely of a driving box;

l Figure 2 is an elevation of one of the gibcontacting wearing faces ofa driving box; and

Figure 3 is a horizontal section on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

L5 The driving boxes of locomotives are subject to considerable wear intheir movement in the pedestal jaws and particularly on the faces whichengage the shoe and wedge, and it is highly important that these slidingfaces i0 be amply and continuously lubricated to pre- Application filedOctober 26, 1929. Serial No. 402,724.

vent undue wear and to promote easy riding. The outer face of eachdriving box is subject to lateral thrust from the hub face and serves tolaterally position the drivers. It is also essential that this face beproperly lubricated in order that wear may not spoil the box, materiallyshorten its life or permit of excess lateral play of the drivers. Thepresent invention contemplates a single lubricating means to lubricateboth the hub face and the sliding faces of locomotive driving boxes andto provide this lubricant entirely independently of the main journallubricating means.

Referring to the drawing in which is disclosed one conventional form ofpedestal and driving box there is shown at 10, a main or side frame of alocomotive having the pedestal 11 provided with the jaws 12 and 13between which are received the driving box generally indicated by thereference character 14.

This driving box comprises a heavy block of suitable metal recessed onthe under surface to provide an inverted U-shaped opening through whichthe journal of the axle 15 is passed to be received against the crownbrass 16 recessed in the driving box and forming the main bearing forthe journal of a driving axle. This bearing between the journal and thecrown brass is lubricated by means of the oil cellar 17, which is a boxor receptacle for lubricant fitted in the space beneath the journal andfilled with suitable packing as at 18, saturated with lubricant. Thepacking is held against the under face of the journal by means of thespring 19 and the lubricant is carried around between the journal andthe crown brass as the axle rotates.

The fore and aft faces of the journal box are vertically channelled asat 19 to provide the side flanges 20 which cooperate with the side facesof the jaws to prevent lateral movement of the driving box. On the onejaw is provided a driving box gib 21 generally referred to as the shoeto provide a suitable lining between the jaw 12 and the walls of therecess 19, and the main portion 22 of this shoe is of uniform thicknessto conform to 3 driving box.

the vertical faces of the jaw and the driving box. The other aw 13 hasits inner face inclined as at 24 and the driving box gib has its mainportion 25 tapered as shown in Figure 1 to fill the space between thevertical side of the box and the inclined jaw face. Vertical adjustmentof this gib, which is commonly called the driving-box wedge, compensatesfor wear on the jaws and driving box sliding faces so that there is noundue fore and aft movement of the driving box in the jaw. V

The springs, equalizersor other linkage for supporting the framefrom thedrivers, bear directly on or are' attached to a hanger orother member 26which itself rests on the driving box saddle 27 formed on the uppersurface'of the side flanges 20. There is one of these on each side ofthe frame to balance the load on the driving box and prevent canting.

Between the flanges 20 the top surface of the box is recessed as shownat 28 and then is provided with further shallow recesses 29 and in theserecesses are received the lubricant reservoirs 30 in the form ofirregularly shaped cups adapted to fit the shape of the recess. Thesecups may be made of pressed or cast metal and contain the main lubricantchamber 31 and theplurality of lubricant wells 32, 33 which are ofsubstantially the same depth as the chamber. All of these compartmentsare open at the top and covered by a suitable lid 34 spaced from theirtops. Lubricant, preferably oil, is delivered by capillary attractionfrom the chamber 31 into the wells by means of suitable wool wicking 35and the quantity of oil delivered to each well is regulated by thenumber of wicks connecting it to the oil chamber.

The two oil cups, as will be seen, are spaced on opposite sides of thesaddles 27 and each lubricates the driving box gib on its side of thejournal as well as the hub face 36 of the This is done by providingbores in the driving box to receive oil conduits. Thus from the well 32of each oil reservoir is seen to lead the conduit 37 which'ends justshort of its corresponding gib engaging face as at 38. Here the conduitcommunicates with the upper part of a series of oil channels 40 in theface so that oil is supplied over a large area of the gib with which theface engages by means of the distributing channels.

Each well 33 has emerging from it a conduit 41 leading to the hubengaging face 36 of the driving box where it communicates with twochannels 42, 43 respectively in this face so that oil is welldistributed over this face, both on the end of the crown brass and onthe box face about it, which engages the hub thrust face, thusadequately lubricating the surfaces to prevent wear.

It should be noted that adequate'lubrication is provided for all of thesurfaces of the driving box which receive what may be considered minorfriction, as distinguished from the major friction between the journaland the crown brass, which bearing has its own independent lubricatingsystem. It should be noted particularly that the oil receptacles arereadily available for filling and that they hold a liberal quantity oflubricant and supply it in regulated quantities to the surfacescontinuously. The conduits which conduct the oil from the. reservoirsalso function to maintain the reservoirs in position in their recessessince the conduits extend at a sharp angle to the line of movementnecessary to remove the reservoirs from their receptacles.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredtobe secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a locomotive havinga pedestal provided with jaws, a wedge and shoelining said jaws, a driving box in said pedestal having side facesengaging said wedge and shoe, a driving wheel having an axle journaledin said box and a hub engaging the hub face of said box, said box havinga pair of recesses in the top surface below the saddle and between itand the side faces, the combination of an oil cup in each recessentirely below the saddle, an oil reservoir in each cup, a well in eachcup, means to supply oil in regulated quantity from the reservoirs tothe wells, each cup having a pair of'conduits entering the lower portionof the well to receive oil therefrom, bores in said box to receivesaidconduits, one opening on a side'face and one on said hub faceandgrooves in said faces below the outlets of the conduits thereto and incommunication therewith.

2. The combination with a locomotive driving box having a shallow recessin the upper surface thereof, of a lubricant'holding cup set in saidrecess anda' conduit passing through said box and engaging said cuplaterally.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix signature.

G. BECKER.

